What would M & M do

Rev. Al Sharpton is at again.

He plans to protest outside Madison Square Garden in New York City, demanding that New York Knicks coach and president Isiah Thomas apologize for remarks he supposedly said to a former female employee, who last week won a sexual harassment case against Thomas and the team.

During testimony, it was learned that Thomas once explained to Amacha Browne Sanders the difference of when a Black man and a White man calls a Black woman a female dog. The jury later couldn't 't decide if Thomas should pay Sanders, which led to a mistrial on that issue. But if he indeed had said this, if anything, Thomas is guilty of stupidity.

But does this warrant Sharpton parading in front of MSG in a sandwich board, leading "Thomas must go!" chants? What would Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X -- M & M, do in this case?

I'd suspect these two 'real leaders' probably would have release a written statement, decrying Thomas' actions, and move on to more pressing issues. Such as President Bush's veto of a child insurance bill. The war in Iraq. Congress continuing throwing billions to it.

Funding private security hit men with federal dollars in Iraq. Unequal justice in Jena, La.

Troy Davis, whose death penalty case will be heard in Georgia Supreme Court, in November. Any number of important things.

This shows leadership, not show-off leadership.

Sharpton and his like again will draw mainstream media's spotlight for his protest, diverting attention away from more important issues. Again, he will pat himself on the back, just like he did over the firing of Don Imus, which the good reverend took credit for, when actually it was the adverse effect on the bottom line that ultimately did Imus in, rather than Sharpton's mouth.

Calling for Thomas' head over a civil suit is nonsense. It only fuels the daily yakety-yakers on sports talk radio. Should he be fired? That's for his bosses to decide -- Thomas has done much worse as a basketball executive in his Knicks tenure that he has earned a pink slip several times over.

Do I condone what he supposedly said to Browne? Absolutely not. She had her day in court and proved her case that the Knicks, and Thomas, were wrong. Collect your millions at the door and go home, I say.

Did I condoned what Imus and his gang said about the Rutgers' women basketball team last spring? Absolutely not, but I didn't call for his firing either. His bosses eventually decided it was best to part company with the longtime loudmouth, who reportedly soon will return to the airwaves -- just as I predicted.

Sharpton is just being Al -- a manufactured Black leader. His protest in front of MSG will be topic number one on his national radio show. Some chowder head sports junkie will use it as verification that Thomas should be axed.

What would M & M do? Like me, absolutely nothing.